Review Detail

First review, so it'll be brief. I loved the first Matrix and enjoyed Reloaded, but I thought Revolutions was a mess with all the train station, Sati, Bane, Club Hell and Zion stuff. But I know somewhere in the second and third films, there's one really solid movie, and this edit came incredibly close to what I'd always hoped for. I especially liked the cleaning up of the Architect to make Neo's choice about hope rather than specifically love for Trinity. That really worked for me, but some of the other changes didn't. The only time this edit lost its path (specifically for me) is when it forced major changes on the original narrative, specifically at the end, where the source material didn't really support the ideas put forward. Still, I have a ton of respect for this ambitious take!

I love the idea of cutting Bane, and Neo has to be blinded, but Trinity living is awkwardly executed and kind of messy. At a minimum, her "I'm here" line could have either been cut or perhaps spoken over black screen to represent Neo's blindness. As it stands, she's "here" on her back and obviously injured and instantly upright taking care of Neo. Then she inexplicably stops taking care of him. Maybe there's a version where he's blinded by the machine flying through him and she still dies, but with a much shorter death scene than the source.

I love cutting Mary Alice out as well to avoid tedious explanations, but the one "cheers" shot of Gloria Foster felt awkward to me. I liked every other part of the scene though as it seemed to be presented in the Oracle's first person as she would see it through her eyes, which is kind of symbolic. I basically think the scene would have worked without showing the Oracle at all.

I also kind of missed Trinity going into the Matrix to take out the power plant. I think the brief shot of her loading in and blowing up the guard shack with the motorcycle would have done it. No need for the agent fight or the big rescue from Neo, but it at least would show her doing...something during that scene.

But these are ultimately nitpicks to a really clever and ambitious fan edit that I thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you for making and sharing it. Honestly, if the Neo/Trinity ending had stayed a little closer to the source material, I'd watch this instead of the sequels forever, as everything up to that point was more or less exactly what I've always wanted from the sequels. I think I just want a heavy edit without some of the narrative changes at the end. But kudos for ambition, and awesome work on the visuals and sound!!!